Taxpayers in Fairfax County carry an enormous tax load with an ever increasing burden each and every year. Stretched to the limit, the elderly are quickly being taxed out of Fairfax County, while the young are forced to live elsewhere while commuting through some of the worst traffic in America to work in Fairfax County. Some companies have chosen not to relocate to Fairfax but to other near-bye locations since an ever growing requirement held by successful companies is that their employees must be able to afford living close to their company offices. Housing prices inside the Beltway do not always qualify. That and streamline cross county public transportation are often the failings of Fairfax County.

As is true of most counties in the Metro area, Fairfax County provides any number of vital services for residents while offering excellent salaries and extensive benefits for their employees. In this year’s budget, the County’s compensation plan will be fully funded with a market rate adjustment of 2.25%, and funding of performance, merit and longevity awards...not to mention generous overtime, great medical insurance, use of county cars, and substantial retirement packages. County employees will see average increases ranging from 4.25 to 4.50%. That considerably outstrips non-government jobs.

However, the county budget comes at a very high cost to the taxpayers, some of whom argue that they are seeing fewer benefits to life in Fairfax County compared with neighboring counties. If you have ever wondered exactly where your tax dollars are going the following will give you some idea. If you are alarmed by these numbers, confused by others, or would simply appreciate a fuller understanding of the multiple retirement funds, trusts, and compensation packages, please contact the Office of the County Executive, Bryan Hill, at (703) 324-2531 www.fairfaxcounty.gov/countyexec/ or your local Supervisor. For instance: Exactly how many employees across what fields and offices account for the $11,618,294 allotted to the Dept. of Planning and Zoning or the $28,426,546 to Land Development Services? What exactly is included in the “Other Category” listed under many departments totaling $216 million, or “Nondepartmental” at over $393 million? The pie chart below provides a quick overview but leaves many details murky.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the FY 2019 General Fund Disbursement level of $4.28 billion, which is an increase of $174.29 million, or 4.2 percent, over the FY 2018 Adopted Budget Plan. Here are some of the highlights, tax rates and fund disbursements.

Personal Property Tax: Will remain at $4.57 per $100 of assessed value for most classes of personal property.

Stormwater Fee: Up to $0.0325 per $100 of assessed value.

Sewer Service Charges: Up to $7 per 1,000 gallons from $6.75.

Sewer Service Base Charge: Up from $27.62 per quarter to $30.38 per quarter.

Capital Paydown and IT Projects: Support for these categories will be reduced by $3,216,090

Schools: The FY 2019 School transfer for operations totals $2.05 billion. In addition, $193.38 million is transferred to School Debt Service and $15.60 million is transferred to School Construction. Total County transfers to support Schools are $2.26 billion or 52.8 percent of total County Disbursements.